Mikhail
Beketov, the former crusading editor of the independent newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda in the Moscow suburb,
Khimki, died this afternoon at a Moscow hospital. A choking
episode during lunch led to heart failure, Elena Kostyuchenko, Beketov's friend
and a reporter for the newspaper Novaya
Gazeta, told CPJ by phone from Moscow. Really, though, Beketov's life was
taken by the thugs who
smashed his skull, broke his legs, pulverized his hands, and left him to die in
the freezing cold nearly five years ago. He defied them, surviving that November 2008 night and valiantly rallying in the ensuing years, but the once robust and fearless editor was
never the same.

The true stories of journalists from
Mexico, Sri Lanka, Russia, the United States, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
will hit the stage July 20 at London's Arcola
Theatre. "On the Record," which runs through August 13, examines the
careers of six journalists, the risks they face, and their determination to
make an impact through their work. This is the latest production by the
UK-based Ice and Fire theater company, founded in 2003 to explore human rights stories through performance. Christine Bacon, Ice and Fire's artistic
director and co-author of "On the Record," discusses
the production's inspiration, messages, and challenges in this CPJ interview.